


The Heart of It

by TriplePirouette



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:57:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2261934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriplePirouette/pseuds/TriplePirouette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Victor goes in search of a heart for his brother, but the Dark One was not his first stop… pre the events in “The Doctor.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Heart of It

**Author's Note:**

> A belated birthday fic for LittleRedRidingWhale, who has been an amazing tumblr friend. She requested anything with Dr. Whale in it. Also, I blatantly stole her character and made her my own. :D She knows why. Also, I’ve NEVER written either character before. Whale Watchers, please be kind.

Victor Frankenstein was afraid of very few things, but nothing made him tremble like the woman before him. He stood tall anyway, trying not to both flinch and examine her milky eyes or the cockeyed set to her jaw. He was sure there was fascinating science behind her survival, perhaps even medicines he could create from her and volumes to learn, but that wasn’t why he was here.

No, he’d portal jumped with the mad privateer to meet her, to speak to her, and that he would.

She sat, gnarled and nearly crippled, but coiled as if to spring on him at any moment. Maybe it was just how colorful this world was, but even he had to admit that it seemed  _something_  surrounded her, gave her an air of importance.

It certainly was not magic.

“Why have you come?” She asked gruffly, eyes boring into him as if there was no obstruction to her sight at all, though he knew that she could never see him with those pupils.

He set his jaw, taking a deep breath, the dried herbs above him tickling the hairs in his nostrils. “I’ve come to seek a heart. One that will-”

She barked out a harsh laugh, pointing at him. “Yaga knows, my boy. At least you didn’t lie. I’d have had to cut out your tongue.” She sighed, pressing carefully to standing. “Too bad, I’m running low on Liar’s Tongue.”

He shuffled his feet as she moved about him, more grace than he thought possible, gratefully smacking his tongue in his mouth. “I have no cause to lie. I seek it for scientific-”

“You seek it to bring back your brother.” She plucked a log from beside the fire and tossed it on carelessly, wiping her hand on her skirts after.

His eyes widened, his jaw hung low. “How- how did you? Jefferson must have-”

She cackled, stepping up to him. She was half his height, even if she hadn’t been hunched over, but she seemed like a giant. “Even if I didn’t have the gift of sight, your intentions are clear. No one seeks a portal jumper, a witch, just to pursue science in their world.” She ran her fingers up the side of his coat and over his chest. “Tell me, man of science, why you think a heart from our world would better suit your needs.”

Her hand caused a strange sensation in his stomach. His gut itched to call it magic, but his brain refused, forcing thoughts of the herbs or the log she’d thrown on the fire- any explanation except magic. “Well,” he muttered out, unable to look away from her lined face. “I’ve… I’ve heard tale of hearts that can bring people back from the dead.”

She pulled away, unhappy. “Still won’t lie to me, eh? Shame.” She smacked her lips, thinking carefully. “You seek a magic heart, is that it?”

He stood proud, determined to keep his tongue. “I do not believe in magic. Only science.”

She sniffed mightily, turning to her work bench behind her. “You’ll keep you tongue boy, I’ve tired of that game.” She shifted around bottles and boxes, but turned to him with empty hands. “Magic hearts are not easy to come by, in fact, they’re incredibly rare. I know a great many wizards and witches from this world who would desire one far before you. So tell me, boy, why do you want it? What makes you think you deserve it?” She paused, leaning forward menacingly. “What will you do to get one?”

“Anything.” He answered without thinking. “Anything I need to. I’ve failed my brother. He’s…” He paused, his fervor only gone for a second. “It was my fault, and I must make it right. I will not rest until I’ve made it right, no matter the cost to me.”

She leaned closer, her fingers pressing into his ribcage as his heart started to beat wildly. “You have a strong heart, boy, why not give him your own?”

Victor grabbed her hand, pulling it away from his chest. “I would gladly, but that would leave no one to save him, just two empty bodies with no heart between them.”

Yaga pulled away and laced her fingers together, looking at him through narrowed eyes. “You are smart. I’ve gained many a heart that way.”

“Then you have one?” He asked, his eyes alight with possibility.

“No.” She dashed his hopes quickly and easily, turning away from him. “But I know a man who can get you one. I can only take hearts from those who will it. He can, and will take hearts from any you wish.”

Victor stepped forward, his hands on the shoulders of the woman before him to force her to look at him. “Please, I beg of you, this man’s name.”

Yaga laughed lightly. “Ask Jefferson to take you to Rumpelstiltskin. He will know what to do.” Victor turned, striding quickly away, but she stopped him with a dark click of her tongue behind her teeth. “Go, get your heart,” he turned back to her slowly, the foreboding in her voice more than he was prepared for. Her yes were unfocused and she swayed slightly, her hand reached out as if she saw past him. “But know this: a deal with Rumpelstiltskin is kept to the letter, always. His magic is dark, far darker than mine. It may get you what you need, but you will pay a price. Sometimes, that price is far more than you will ever know.”

Victor put a hand on the door to the cottage, backing away. “I told you, I’d pay any price.”

Yaga smiled, broken and rotted teeth showed through her thin lips as her trance was broken. Her smirk said she knew something she wasn’t saying. “Yes, you did. And, my boy, I’m sure you will.” He left, hope and dread warring within him as her voice called through the closing door. “Perhaps your future will be your price, or an arm…”

Her cackling laughter did nothing to calm his heart, but he had a direction now, and a man with a hat to see. 


End file.
